Oh MY Jelly!

When I was over at my aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner, she made me sample two of her latest culinary triumphs. Now I say "made", but to be honest, I did so quite willingly! As it turns out, she opened up the wonderful world of jelly. My only experience w/ real jelly, as opposed to jam was one awful mint jelly incident, and the delightful grape jelly that you get at diners in Manhattan. Actually, that's a lie- my aunt's hot pepper jelly has made it into several sauces and chutneys at dinner parties in my apt.

Moooving on, she gave me a spoonful of her red wine jelly, and then one of her apple jelly. I've been creating dishes in which to use these precious accouterments my head ever since! These would be a great accompaniment to any kind of meat; a mild, soft cheese or a crumbly, pungent one; slathered on a slice of toasted brioche with butter; a pipping hot bagel with cream cheese,;with pound cake and ice cream; waffles and whipped cream- see what I mean??

Anyhow, now that you're all salivating, I'll share her recipe. This sounds to me like the perfect rainy (or snowy) day activity, and would fit right in with the Christmas baking.

Red Wine Jelly & Apple Jelly
both use the same method, though the ingredients differ slightly

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. wine -merlot, or shiraz are lovely here.

3 c. sugar

1 pouch or 1/2 btl liquid Certo

Method: Mix wine and sugar in the top pan of a double boiler. Place over boiling water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 mins. Remove from heat but leave jelly over the hot water. Stir in the Certo all at once.

For the Apple Jelly:

2 c apple juice

3 1/2 c. sugar

1 pouch liquid Certo

Method: Mix juice and sugar in the top pan of a double boiler. Place over boiling water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 mins. Remove from heat but leave jelly over the hot water. Stir in the Certo all at once.